Thread: A train driver's plea ( safety video )

Good campaign. Thanks for posting.

with family member who drives both LRs and freight trains, we sure are aware of this....

thanks

mate the way people aim their vehicles in Australia(well you really can say it's driving) you would expect that more people would be getting taken out.
I was driving home this evening and was ahead of this P-plater and she was determind to try and take me on a stretch that went into one lane even though she was behind me!
Reckon she might live a couple of years if she is lucky!!!
great informative video worth the watch cheers Andy.

Good video,,, I dont understand why they just cant play it, if even just a few times on the TV channels,,,, Kind of makes me wonder where our priorities lay,,,

I had what I consider to have been a close call a few months ago on a dirt road,,, didnt even realise there was a train track in the area,, in a world of my own I was, sightseeing,,, was almost the last thing I saw,,

Thanks for the post up DS,,

really makes you feel for the drivers.............

dont know how people can be so stupid

Thanks for the link Drivesafe, it certainly makes you think.

Cheers, Mick.

For some reason I only got audio - but I get the point!

I frequently get criticised by neighbours for stopping at the level crossings round here when there is clearly no train in sight. But the problem is, although I have to cross at least one of several crossings on one of two lines to go to town, I can go months between seeing trains on either line. One in particular, the one I cross most often, I think it is over a year since I saw a train on the line - yet there is enough traffic to keep the rails polished. I can see how this can lead to complacency, yet I can also see why the crossings only have stop signs - flashing lights would be a good idea but these seem to be very expensive, particularly where there is no power nearby.

On the Golden Highway there are two crossings between here and Dubbo (plus one to get onto the highway). Until about fifteen years ago the ones on the highway only had stop signs, and there were regular accidents, up to two or three a year, usually fatal. These were provided with flashing lights, and there have been no accidents since. But there are numerous other crossings with only stop signs. At one of these several years ago, a local (it was on his driveway!) was hit by a train while carrying hay. He was killed, and the ensuing fire destroyed two locomotives and a railway bridge, with the damage bill running into many millions.

The worst local crossing I can think of is on the road to Merrygoen - you can only see it from this side about fifty metres before the crossing, and the visibility along the line in either direction is less than a hundred metres (hilly country). With an uphill start, it is easy to see how a loaded vehicle could be hit here, even if they stopped at the stop sign. From the other side it is better, as it is a downhill start and the crossing can be seen from further away.

John

Originally Posted by JDNSW

For some reason I only got audio - but I get the point!

I frequently get criticised by neighbours for stopping at the level crossings round here when there is clearly no train in sight. But the problem is, although I have to cross at least one of several crossings on one of two lines to go to town, I can go months between seeing trains on either line. One in particular, the one I cross most often, I think it is over a year since I saw a train on the line - yet there is enough traffic to keep the rails polished. I can see how this can lead to complacency, yet I can also see why the crossings only have stop signs - flashing lights would be a good idea but these seem to be very expensive, particularly where there is no power nearby.

On the Golden Highway there are two crossings between here and Dubbo (plus one to get onto the highway). Until about fifteen years ago the ones on the highway only had stop signs, and there were regular accidents, up to two or three a year, usually fatal. These were provided with flashing lights, and there have been no accidents since. But there are numerous other crossings with only stop signs. At one of these several years ago, a local (it was on his driveway!) was hit by a train while carrying hay. He was killed, and the ensuing fire destroyed two locomotives and a railway bridge, with the damage bill running into many millions.

The worst local crossing I can think of is on the road to Merrygoen - you can only see it from this side about fifty metres before the crossing, and the visibility along the line in either direction is less than a hundred metres (hilly country). With an uphill start, it is easy to see how a loaded vehicle could be hit here, even if they stopped at the stop sign. From the other side it is better, as it is a downhill start and the crossing can be seen from further away.

John

surprisingly, perhaps, the line you are writing about is now carrying a proportion of the grain frieght from the northwest to Nowra and Berrima, via Dubbo and Cootamundra - it might seem like the long way around but it avoids the Murrurundi bank and Hawkesbury R grade, and also avoids having to fit in with Sydney's commuter rail network